This invention relates to gate assemblies used with hopper-type railroad cars and more particularly a retrofitable power-actuating device which permits a selective opening and closing of the inner or outer doors employing a single air cylinder valve.
Gate assemblies and devices for opening and closing the inner and outer door are well known in the industry. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,454,822 to Robert T. Fischer discloses one such assemblage. For the most part, such gate assemblies have employed manually actuated gate opening and closing devices. What this means is that the operator must manually insert a steel bar, for example, into the gate actuation linkage to actuate the desired door in the desired direction and then move down the track at the speed with which the train is moving to maintain control. As is apparent, anyone who has attempted to move rapidly down the side of a railroad track knows the difficulty created by the tie spacing and the rough ballast. If one imagines that to further complicate his efforts he must hold at least one hand on the steel bar to hold it in the gate actuation linkage, the over-all scope of the job can be better appreciated. Of course, while the operator is attempting to negotiate his own course down the side of the track, he must also monitor the flow of ballast and deposit it in the volume needed only in those places required. Obviously, in this age of increased concern for workers' safety, such a system for ballast discharge is not totally acceptable. At the same time, other factors must be considered, such as the complexity and reliability of the mechanism, as well as its cost.